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LAGOS. — Lafarge Africa has unveiled an array of innovative concrete solutions and techniques for the construction of highways, intra-city, residential and industrial area road networks.

Mr Femi Yusuff, Head, Product Development, Lafarge, at a media presentation in Lagos, noted that these relatively new innovations have been deployed by the company in road constructions across the country, specifically in Cross-River and Osun states. The Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) and the Thin Concrete Pavement techniques are some of the novel solutions the company said come with an attractive initial cost and are done using its Power Max and RoadCem brands of cement.

He underlined the socio-economic impact of science and technology in the judicious use of scarce resources in constructing the entire architecture of Nigerian roads with concrete, which absorbs wear and tear better than asphalt. According to Yusuff, an average asphalt road will require more periodic maintenance and last for 15 years, whereas concrete can last up to 30 years and requires less maintenance over time.

“Initial cost of concrete roads which are more suitable for high traffic, is higher than asphalt, however it decreases until it becomes zero at an Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) of 35 000,” he said.

Other benefits of the new solutions and techniques Yusuff added, include environmental friendliness, cost-efficiency, short traffic opening time after construction and high early age strength as well as having fewer or no joints. Ghana, Kenya and South Africa are globally recognised as the only countries in Africa to have scaled up the use of cement products in road construction.